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Chris Allen.
Mid-Canterbury enjoys a direct relationship between water use and employment, says Federated Farmers.
The unemployment rate in Ashburton district is “miniscule” because the district benefits hugely from irrigation, said Ashburton-based Chris Allen, Federated Farmers spokesman on the environment (water and biodiversity).
Allen said Labour’s proposed water tax or royalty – mooted at 2 cents/m3 -- could cost individual irrigated farms $10,000 to $35,000 each. That would be a lot of money not going back into the local economy, where each dollar spent recycled about six-fold, he said.
Allen said 85% of the national water tax take would be from the East Coast of the South Island, 25% of it from Mid-Canterbury alone.
Echoing an Irrigation NZ analysis which showed that the bulk of the tax would be gathered in regions where the rivers were already cleanest, Allen said the most polluted rivers are nowhere near where irrigation is happening.
“It’s not going to fix any river that’s not being worked on already,” he said.
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to highlight the most troublesome farm pests – a serious issue that needs some urgent attention from the Beehive.
Farmers are welcoming the announcement of two new bills to replace the under-fire Resource Management Act.
The Government has announced it will immediately roll over all resource consents for two years, with legislation expected to pass under urgency as early as this week.
Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for "The Twelve Pests of Christmas" in an effort to highlight the most troublesome farm pests.
The biggest reform of local government in more than 35 years is underway.
Meat processors are hopeful that the additional 15% tariff on lamb exports to the US will also come off.
Fears of a serious early drought in Hawke’s Bay have been allayed – for the moment at least.
There was much theatre in the Beehive before the Government's new Resource Management Act (RMA) reform bills were introduced into Parliament last week.
The government has unveiled yet another move which it claims will unlock the potential of the country’s cities and region.
The government is hailing the news that food and fibre exports are predicted to reach a record $62 billion in the next year.
The final Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction has delivered bad news for dairy farmers.
OPINION: The release of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill to replace the Resource Management Act is a red-letter day…
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to…
